[Raghav07]

Originally Posted by rider117

Wanted to know if petrol variant was proper variant considering I live in Bangalore and will be running max 70km a week excluding weekend journeys.

Turbo Petrol returns 8-10 in city and 13-16 in highway with DCT, so for iMT I guess it will be a bit better.

Doing the math, your claimed running will be 3640 km and lets say you travel on weekends, so realistically your yearly running its 5000-6000 km(maybe more as well).

Performing more calculations, yearly cost in diesel will be 28k to 30k if your running is around 5000km

For petrol, for around 5000km running is estimated 38000, which means you are saving around 8k for going for diesel.

Thus, Petrol is worth it because its a 160 hp, enthusiast engine like nothing else on the market.

Hope this helps

[qr20de]

Originally Posted by hiren.sharma

Puddle Lamps were a welcome feature:
Attachment 2600936

Congrats Hiren on the new ride! Wishing you many comfortable, safe and enjoyable drives ahead!

I wanted a clarification on the welcome light picture that you showed. I've got the new Seltos and this potentially can be retrofit, considering its an OEM accessory.

Would you be able to share a pic of the welcome light, if its not an inconvenience? I can share it with my dealer and get his input too. Thanks so much

[furyrider]

I went on a 3-hour drive recently. It was cloudy, hot and humid. It rained the previous day though. Hence, the dirt on the vehicle. My old friend returned to pay me a visit







My mistake? I forgot to keep the right AC vent in the last row fully open.

[sidharthg]

Hi Everyone.

So, I've done 50k in My Kia Carens Lux Auto Plus Diesel in 2 years now.

For the past 6-7 months I have been facing the following consistent issues with the car. Car has been to SC numerous times for the issues but I don't think they are able to figure out the cause:

1. A/c Tripping regularly. Even when I set it to LOW. It is a very random throughout the day but keeps happening every day. Even though the evaporator coil has been changed along with sensor.

2. Car jerks when kept at constant speed, especially during cruise control. Even though 2 injectors have been changed under warranty earlier.

3. Water leaks from drive side door, from the rubber beading during rains.

Do let me know if anyone else is facing similar issues and possible solutions for the same.

[Carzy_Carz30]

Greetings for the day,

Wanted to know if any Kia Carens owners are facing Touch Screen problem or I am the only one.

Problem started with hanging of touch screen (in other words, it was not responding to touch) which got resolved on restarting the car.

This phenomenon was highlighted to Service Advisor (SA) during my 3rd service (i.e. 2nd year from date of purchase). At the time of handing over my car after service, it was informed that they cannot find the problem and everything seems fine. They assured to feel free to reach out if such instance occurs in the future.

Within one month, same issue resurfaced (now it’s out of warranty, which I came to know later).

I reached out to service center. After initially checking, they decided to update the software. All 3-4 attempt to update the software, failed (system update stopped midway and displayed message stated that ‘one of the file in the pen-drive software is corrupted).

Finally, it was concluded by SA that the problem is with whole media player (infotainment system) and it needs to be changed. This will cost around Rs. 40k. Much shockingly was the fact that the amount was required to be paid as it’s out of warranty (only 2 years warranty).

Just to keep all of you well informed, so that, nobody in future has to suffer, Car infotainment media warranty is for two years. even if you have taken extended warranty.

As of today, touch screen is working with left side of touch screen unresponsive(see attached Picture).

I wanted to know is there a problem with whole media or just touch screen requiring calibration.

Requesting for your valuable guidance.

[frez_fr]

Originally Posted by Carzy_Carz30

Greetings for the day,

Wanted to know if any Kia Carens owners are facing Touch Screen problem or I am the only one.

I had the same issue in my 2022 carens prestige model. Some areas on the screen was unresponsive and the dealer replaced it in warranty as it was happened on second year.

I didn't even need to say one word. Just showed them the video of screen getting stuck and unresponsive and they quickly proceeded with the warranty process.

The dealer is Incheon Kia Thrissur

[sudeepg]

A new Kia Carens 1.5 Prestige naturally aspirated petrol joined the (extended) family last weekend. Since then, I have had the opportunity to drive it for about 500 Kms on highways and city. Here's my take on the car. The driving experience has been penned down in a separate paragraph.

Likes

• Safety: Disc brakes on all four wheels and 6 airbags is standard. TPMS and ESP is also standard.
• Excellent space, inside out. The third row is very usable for people who are 5'4" or below height.
• Very comfortable front, middle and fairly comfortable third row of seats. The third row is perhaps the best available in this segment.
• Sliding & split middle row seats liberates legroom for third row of passengers and also reclines.
• One touch tumble down operation of the left row seat in middle is very easy to operate. There's enough room to get in as well.
• Flat floor makes it a comfortable three seater in the middle row.
• Very good air conditioner with roof vents that can be open or shut with flow direction. Rear aircon control too.
• Decent enough luggage space in the boot of 215 liters capacity.
• Very comfortable ride quality on the highways with R15 steel wheels.
• Short turning radius. I was surprised that it did a tight U turn in one go when I was expecting a 3 point turn.
• Wireless Android auto connectivity gives seamless intergration with the in car entertainment unit.
• Super light clutch is easy to operate with well spaced out pedals and a good enough dead pedal.
• The gates for the 6 speed gear box are well designed and slots well.
• Space for 10 bottles within the cabin!
• The Arkamys music system is fairly decent.
• Variable speed intermittent wipers work very well.
• Great view of the road ahead from drivers seat.
• Steering adjustable for rake.
• Rear camera view includes dynamic guide lines. You can also use the rear camera view while driving forward.
• Wing mirrors are large enough to view the traffic behind.
• Front parking sensors make it easy to park in tight spots and is not excessively intrusive in traffic.
• Privacy curtain for middle row.
• Enough spaces within center console to keep your wallet, phone, water bottles and other small items.
• Well laid out and clean engine bay with a super silent motor. It is hard to tell it is running. Fit and finish are top.
• Cabin insulation is decent and we didn't hear the engine except for some road noise, likely due to the poor JK rubbers.
• Wheel wells have full cladding to reduce noise.
• Wide doors make ingress and egress very easy for driver and passengers. A well designed side step is available as accessory.
• Kia's sales and delivery experience was quite good!

Dislikes

• Digital speed & RPM meter is not to my taste. There is no redline.
• No cruise control
• Weak headlights and horn. A change is must.
• No electrically folding ORVM.
• No head rest for middle passenger seat in second row.
• Very light steering wheel does not weigh up on highways, but makes it very easy in city traffic.
• No rear wash/wipe! It is difficult to spot the traffic behind when it rains. Alternative: Use the rear parking camera view.
• Annoying speed warnings at 80 (intermittent) and 120 (Constant)
• Passenger seat belt off warning shows up as a message on MID, but rest of the passengers seat belts only give a warning chime that makes you wonder what the car is trying to indicate until you find out that the seat belt warning light next to the front cabin light on roof. I didn't know it until my son told me where to spot it.
• Scrolling through the MID requires you to operate two different switches. One to scroll to the item, another to select it.
• Idling stop/start system resets everytime you switch off the car.
• Hard plastics inside cabin everywhere.
• Headunit for ICE is placed far away from driver seat. You have to extend out to operate.
• Touch screen operation for auto AC and ventilation system requires you to take eyes off the road, should you need to operate them.

The Driving Experience:

Fire up the engine and it is really hard to tell if the engine is running. The motor is super silent and gets vocal over 3,000 RPM and that too if you listen to it carefully. On the go, if you play music, the engine is not audible at all and those who are used to engine sound as an indicator for upshift or downshift will find yourself trying to listen to the engine sound most of the time.

Now, the following is purely my opinion and from my experience. This engine is tuned for low end torque with very short gearing. The available power and torque in the initial gears is very good to drive in the city. It is also split out well through the gears for efficient cruising and for fuel efficiency. The first gear seems specially setup for higher torque with load. I was a bit skeptical about the car climbing a steep incline with load, but it did it very well. In fact the first couple of gears are so good, you don't need to slip the clutch at all when going over speed breakers. You can pretty much release it completely while crossing the speed breakers. These gears will also let you climb inclines and ghat sections on the highway without any struggle, but progress will not be brisk.

On the flip side, this engine and transmission combination will not deliver momentum as quickly as you may expect during in gear acceleration, at least it didn't for me. The gear shift indicator will tell you to upshift around the 2000 RPM mark or just above that. Often, it will recommend you upshift two gears instead of the immediate next. Yet, it does not tell you to downshift ever! This engine and transmission likes to stay in the 600-2,500 RPM mark in higher gears most of the time. I assume this is for more fuel efficiency. You need to step on the A pedal (over 30% input) to get up to speeds beyond 75 KMPH. This car is a calm highway cruiser in the speeds range of 75-90 KMPH. Sadly, cruise control will be sorely missed in this car.

Overtaking and passing other cars: Overtake with caution. Out on the hightway, even when you are in cruising speeds of 60-80 KMPH, stepping on the gas pedal will not deliver immediate output to complete the overtake quickly. You'd think that downshifting will give you more momentum and you will be surprised that it does not do what you expected. There's not even a slight push you'll feel. The engine RPM climbs and you will hear the engine, and the power delivery takes time - Looking at the speedo, it felt like watching a clock's seconds go by. To give you an idea, on the L&T bypass road in Coimbatore, I found that you need 3-4 trailer lengths to make safe overtakes while upshifting. Now, this might sound as nitpicking with me used to driving a Wolf remapped 1.6 diesel of the S-Cross, but trust me, I am not comparing that engine to this engine. All I am saying is that you need to consider leaving enough room (especially with people and luggage on board) while overtaking in a dual carriage road. You should not try to cut sharp while getting back into lane; the car does not like it due to its length. It has to be a gradual transition back and that needs room (remember, this is a longer car) and will also keep your passengers happy. In a barricaded highway, it is an absolute pleasure to cruise in this car with family or friends with speeds under 100 KMPH. It absorbs all the bumps in the road well. This car is for enjoying time with your family or friends on long trips.

Braking is good with all 4 disc brakes. Thanks Kia for offering this and all the safety equipment as standard when many other manufacturers do not. As you will see, the likes are much more than dislikes and Kia surely knows what to offer for a car of this category. These considerations hardly make it a deal breaker for most people. It is therefore, not surprising that you see a lot of Carens on the road.

The Buying Experience:

The car was bought at Incheon Kia at Thrissur. The booking and delivery experience by Layesh and his team was excellent. Everything went like clock work and they guided us through the procedures to the T. There were no hiccups in the entire booking to delivery experience. The car was ready by the promised time and delivered without any damages. It was spic and span. The team explained the procedures very well and handed over to us all the documents. They also joined in to the celebrations with a cake. Overall a very great experience purchasing from Incheon Kia, Thrissur.

[Durango Dude]

It's frustrating to have the trip meter reset after even a short drive. It becomes difficult to calculate the mileage tank to tank; makes us scroll through to get to the info. I think Kia must not allow this or is there any setting that will override this. Web is replete with comments from frustrated owners. Did a long drive to Kumbakonam and I found the 3rd row seat to be very comfortable as I got a call driver to take us to temples around Kumbakonam.

[century]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

A new Kia Carens 1.5 Prestige naturally aspirated petrol joined the (extended) family last weekend. Since then, I have had the opportunity to drive it for about 500 Kms on highways and city. Here's my take on the car. The driving experience has been penned down in a separate paragraph.

I have shortened the quote.

Sudeep, you have just jot down the experience as it is that I felt with my Carens. Hats off!

I have 1.5L Petrol NA Premium MT (Base model) for about 2 years and has done 50K recently.

For anyone reading this, if you like driving pleasure this is not the engine for you. You will feel that the car has no power on mountainous region. You effective driving, you have to drive one gear down. Overtaking is lethargic but man oh man if you into relaxed driving or being chauffeur driver, this is a people mover you need in your life.

Having two Pajeros and a Linea T-jet 125S in garage but first choice of my mother and wife is of Carens only. Family needs comfort and driving pleasure is not a criterion.

Ideal driving conditions can fetch more than 20kmpl mileage (only highways) which is very good for car this size.

As you can see in photo, cruise control is fitted in aftermarket.

Other aftermarket work that I have done in my Carens:
a) Base model does not come with infotainment system. So purchased Sony XAV-AX7000 with Sony XS-162ES. Good sound fidelity and wired android auto/ Apple carplay. Purchased from distributor (not local) and fitted locally.
b) Electrically adjustable and retractable rear view mirrors. Purchased from local Kia dealer. Mirrors come with black outer, so have to paint white to match upper models. Paint done locally and now turned somewhat yellowish. Manual adjusters were removed but the holes left are not easy to the eyes. These mirrors were purchased locally, fitted in Delhi (250kms far from the city).
c) Bucket seats fitted locally. Touch-feel is good but color did not come as shown in the catalogue, did not want dealer to bear the burnt so gave him go ahead. Also velcro from the side got off. Not much irritating, so left it be.
d) Damping in all 5 doors. Done locally.
e) Cruise control and steering rack buttons were purchased locally from Kia dealer, fitted in Delhi.
f) Leather cover on steering wheel which turns out to be PU. As stiching quality available locally was not satisfactory to my liking, I had gone to Delhi with my own black Italian leather (I am into photo album, etc. business) to wrap on the steering wheel but it came short on the size required. So had to use the next available choice given by the fitter. Fitment was good. Touch was good but faux leather does not age beautifully.
g) Original headlights were inadequate as said by fellow member Sudeep. Purchased Blaupunkt LED bulbs. Great throw. Very happy with it. Purchased and fitted locally. Don't recall the model.

As one full day and more than 500kms drive required, OVRMs, cruise control, steering rack buttons, faux leather steering wheel cover were done in one go.

I will share some photo of the work done in the next post as I don't have it right now.

[century]

Some more photos in regards to my earlier post.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by century

For anyone reading this, if you like driving pleasure this is not the engine for you. You will feel that the car has no power on mountainous region. You effective driving, you have to drive one gear down. Overtaking is lethargic but man oh man if you into relaxed driving or being chauffeur driver, this is a people mover you need in your life.

Even the turbo petrol and DCT combo is tuned rather conservatively. It feels dead to start of and you need to give it some stick, wakes up between 1.5 k to 2k rpm, after that it flies as it does fuel economy goes down and drastically. It's best driven at 80 kmph or below to extract best fuel economy, my feeling is that our highways don't allow for a good cruise control experience, unless you do a Samruddhi Mahamarg/Delhi-Mumbai Expressway or something similar. GST is barricades galore and lots of works on road and diversions. I'm better off keeping my eyes peeled and would like to modulate throttle on my own. I find the throttle responses to be inconsistent after coming from the Honda City CVT, there's tons of lag lower down and it flies after the turbo spools up. It doesn't roll as to be expected of a people mover.

[century]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Even the turbo petrol and DCT combo is tuned rather conservatively. It feels dead to start of and you need to give it some stick, wakes up between 1.5 k to 2k rpm, after that it flies as it does fuel economy goes down and drastically.

Oh. I always thought 1.5 turbo with DCT would be hoot to drive.

Still Carens at any combination is a very sensible choice for big families.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Safety: Disc brakes on all four wheels and 6 airbags is standard. TPMS and ESP is also standard.

Glad Kia providing lots of active safety aids, but the poor test rating with "unstable" body shell is really worrying.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Even the turbo petrol and DCT combo is tuned rather conservatively. It feels dead to start of and you need to give it some stick, wakes up between 1.5 k to 2k rpm, after that it flies as it does fuel economy goes down and drastically. It's best driven at 80 kmph or below to extract best fuel economy,

Thank you for adding this. I had test drove the 7DCT for a few KMs and have the same opinion as you. Although the gear shift was smooth, it felt very lackluster unless you step on the pedal. I didn't add this to my post since I felt it was too little a time for me to understand the 7DCT, but your observations are in sync with my short experience with the automatic.

[pseudo_coder]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

...[*] Very comfortable ride quality on the highways with R15 steel wheels.

For me, it is very comfortable at the front seats. But the rear seats bounce a lot on potholes and even more on bumps.